This post originally appeared on VICE Greece.Last night, in the streets of towns and cities across Greece, people of all ages sang, danced, and cried to the sounds of "Bella Ciao"—a song first sung in the early 20th century by Bologna's rice plantation workers, and later borrowed by Italian partisans fighting the fascist regime in the latter years of WWII. In 2015, it is now intrinsically linked to the formation of Greece's first-ever left-wing government.
In Athens's Klafthmonos Square, the party began as soon as the first poll results were announced. Shortly after 11 PM, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the victorious Syriza party, arrived at Propylaea to give his victory speech. "Our victory is also a victory of all the people of Europe struggling against the austerity that is destroying our common European future," he said, as a sea of colorful flags waved triumphantly below him.A few meters from the podium a group of Spanish and Italians chanted "Syriza, podemos, venceremos!"—a reference to the Spanish left-wing party Podemos that has been supporting Syriza for years. "The time of the left has finally come," said a group of young women standing next to me. In the moment, that felt quite profound.
The Winners
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Words by Antonis Diniakos